While developers are seeking a way to put free-to-play games on the Nintendo 3DS and make them profitable, mobile game developers are still figuring out what they're doing. Case in point, Disney's Where's My Water? 2, which has just released its 1.1.0 update. The sequel to the critically acclaimed and highly successful game abandonded the traditional pay model of the first game and went completely FTP, but it wasn't without controversy. Gamers soon found out that nothing in life comes free, with nearly constant nagging about sharing your progress on Facebook and an energy system that effectively added a timer to the game. You were given only a limited amont of energy and each time you attempted a level you would use some of it. If there's anything gamers are bad at, it's waiting, and making them have patience to be able to play some more (or else cough up a few bucks for an expanded energy meter) made gamers furious. But hold on- it's no longer broken. In fact, it's no longer there at all.
In comments to the 1.1.0 update on both the iTunes and Google Play marketplaces the developers write "Water fans, thanks for all your support! We took your feedback to heart and REMOVED the energy system in this update! Yep that's right. Now play as often and as much as you like!"
Awesome, right? It's great to hear a developer listen to its users and fix any problems they have with it. But this creates a new issue! To encourage people to give them money they offered an Expanded Energy meter for purchase, and many people took them up on their offer. If there's no energy meter at all in the game anymore, what happens to those who bought it? Well, they have a solution. "For those who purchased the expanded energy meter, you will receive 2 Monster Bundles for free!"
Monster Bundles currently cost $9.99 apiece and come with a whole mess of power-ups- 10 Vacuums, 10 Hints, 10 Absorbers and 10 Droppers. Whether that's worth it for gamers who have already spent money on the game is up to the individual, of course, but it's a nice touch to make sure early adopters don't feel cheated.
Along with fixing that system the 1.1.0 update also adds two new locations: Winter Woods and the Bayou.
